The student body at Santa Monica High School reflects a diverse community of peers from different cultures, backgrounds, and even countries. While many students have lived in America their whole lives, others have been students around the world, bringing an international perspective to their education at Samo.

112 students at Samo were born in other countries ranging from Kyrgyzstan, to Macedonia, to Japan, and beyond. As these students have grown up with unique cultural backgrounds, their experiences highlight how vastly different education is in various countries. Although many international students believe that American education is easier, they also think that schools allow their students to explore more, have better opportunities, and have flexibility, making a more enjoyable high school experience.

Jiehuai Tan (’25) was born in China and moved to Japan at 11. He experienced that education in China is highly stressful with a significant workload, while education in Japan is more easygoing. Despite this, he expressed his struggles with “Jyuku”, otherwise known as cram school, which is a specialized school in Japan that helps train students to achieve a specific goal such as passing a school entrance exam. Tan shares what he believes to be the biggest difference in America's education system compared to Japan.

“I think the big difference between here and [Japan] is that here you have a quiz and test mostly every week, and it all goes in your grade,” Tan said, “But in Japan, [the grade] mainly depends on your attitude on the class and are decided by the final exam.”

Halfway across the globe came Pawel Skrzecz (’26) a Samohi student from Poland, Europe. He finds that the main difference between American and Polish education is that American schools require a lot less from students such as only enforcing students to take a minimum of five classes. In Poland, students are required to take the matura exam during their senior year, an exam that will determine if they are eligible to apply to an institution of higher education. In the US, however, Skrzecz believes that students can focus more on themselves.

“School in Poland is much harder than other schools here…there you have a lot more assignments…and need to take 11 or 12 classes,” Skrzecz said. “I think they should put more pressure on kids [in America] to do some things outside of school.”

Monserrat Soriano Morales (’27) – a Samohi student from Oaxaca, Mexico – feels that American schools provide more of a challenge than her previous education. In Mexico, college admissions are solely based on grades, while standardized tests like the PSAT or SAT are not taken into account. Morales also finds that American students have more opportunities for scholarships and government aid due to the consideration of extracurriculars and standardized tests in the admissions process.

“I think it’s more hard here when you want to go to college because you have to do a lot of AP, and honors,” Soriano Morales said. “In Mexico, there’s no honors or AP, so you can only go [to college] with good grades.”

Barsoum Farag (’25) – a student who previously lived in Egypt – believes that American education is less flexible and much simpler than Egyptian education. He explains how students in Egypt often do not learn on campus every day, learning in a process similar to homeschooling or self-studying in the US in which students are required to teach themselves everything. This education system allows for greater flexibility as everything is online. Students can take additional private lessons with tutors if they wish to expand their education beyond what is offered to them through their online courses.

“You don’t have to go to school in Egypt, it's just a thing that you can do on your own.” Barsoum said, “I prefer school here because it’s a little more fun and super easy for me.”

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